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Zero-Waste Basics

An Oven That Saves Lives

Posted on March 13, 2016October 18, 2020by Anne-Marie Bonneau

I love low-tech solutions. An oven made out of cardboard boxes will likely garner less attention than will a refrigerator that alerts its owner via Apple Watch of eggs on the verge of spoiling. At least, it would attract more attention here in Silicon Valley—and probably gobs of venture capital to boot. (Wouldn’t it be […]

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Zero-Waste Basics

Solar Cooking Festival

Posted on July 23, 2014June 28, 2015by Anne-Marie Bonneau

“If you can see your shadow, you can cook.” Pass this litmus test and a solar oven can make your dinner, according to one of the solar chefs who demonstrated this past weekend at the Sacramento Solar Cooking Festival, hosted by the nonprofit Solar Cookers International. He was one of about twenty-five impressive solar chefs demonstrating their […]

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🚨New recipe alert! Oatmeal chocolate chip cooki

🚨New recipe alert! Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies with a sourdough flax egg🚨

I've been posting cookie recipes on my blog recently because a) I figure that while ChatGPT can spit out recipes, it can’t test them so for now I still have a job and b) I like cookies. Swipe to see what the chatbot came up with for a sourdough cookie recipe BUT bake at your own risk! I haven't tested that, only my recipe below.

3 tablespoons unfed sourdough discard, 100 percent hydration
1 tablespoon ground flaxseed brown or golden, finely ground
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup old fashioned rolled oats
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons butter, softened dairy or vegan
¾ cup packed brown sugar golden or dark
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon molasses
1½ cups semisweet chocolate chip pieces

1. Make a sourdough discard flax egg by combining the sourdough discard and flaxseed meal in a small bowl. Set aside to thicken for 10 to 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375°F.

2. In a medium-size bowl, sift together the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

3. In a large bowl, beat together the softened butter with a hand mixer on high speed until creamy, about a minute. Add the sugar and beat until creamy. Beat in the sourdough discard flax egg, vanilla and molasses.

4. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Mix in the chocolate chips.

5. Drop the dough by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheets, 2 inches apart. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until the cookies are golden brown. The centers will still be soft. Rotate the trays halfway through baking.

6. Allow to cool on the cookie sheets for 2 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack to completely cool. Store in a container for a week or the freezer for up to six months.

Remember to save this recipe!

Bringing home intact strawberries in a container r

Bringing home intact strawberries in a container rather than mushed strawberries (i.e., jam) in a plastic produce bag.

Your area’s food laws may differ but here in California, if I (gently) dump baskets of berries into a container or jar and return the baskets to the vendor while I’m at the booth, the vendor can reuse them. The baskets have increased in price over the last few years so vendors are happy to have them back. If I take the baskets home and later return them, the vendor can’t reuse them unless they first steam them with a very expensive piece of equipment that no one owns. The thinking behind this law is that the baskets become contaminated in our homes. So, if I return them to the vendor after bringing them home, they will recycle them, which is often more like wish-cycling.

Some of these went into strawberry-rhubarb galettes, some went into soda and some went directly into tummies.

What's your favorite strawberry recipe?
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#berryseason #eatseasonal #farmersmarkets #supportsmallfarms #reusables #reusableproducebags #jars #wastenotwantnot #sustainablelifestyle #packagefree #plasticfreeliving #plasticfreelifestyle #breakfreefromplastic #plasticfreejuly #plasticpollutes #plasticisfossilfuel #lowwasteliving #slowfoodmovement #slowlivingmovement #artofslowliving #zerowastejourney #zerowastelifestyle #zerowasteliving #zerowastetips #zerowastekitchen #zerowastechef #climatecrisis #thereisnoplanetb

Sewing helps reduce textile waste through repairin

Sewing helps reduce textile waste through repairing clothing or, if it can't be repaired, upcycling that garment into something useful.

Sometimes sewists can help reduce "waste" they may find on the side of the curb, like this electric Singer sewing machine I recently stumbled across. It needed a little bit of work but otherwise was in very good shape. These things were built to last.

I was very tempted to snag this but I have one sewing machine and two sergers and not much room for another machine and I'm sure it's long gone now anyway. I may walk over after I post this and see if it's still there though...

What is the best thing you've found on the street?
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#upcycledclothing #upcycler #upcyclersofinstagram #sewist #sewistsofinstagram #dumpster #dumpsterdiving #dumpsterdive #consumerism #frugal #thriftlife #thrifter #breakfreefromplastic #plasticfreeliving #plasticfreelife #lowwaste #simplelifestyle #sustainablelifestyle #slowlivingmovement #artofslowliving #zerowastejourney #zerowastelifestyle #zerowastemovement #zerowastehome #zerowastetips #zerowastechef #thereisnoplanetb #loveearth

Before I used one (and for a little while after...

Before I used one (and for a little while after...), I had a pressure cooker phobia. I worried I would blow up the kitchen. Now I can’t imagine cooking without one.

My pressure cooker cooks beans and legumes to perfection quickly—saving time and money (bulk beans usually cost less than canned), consumes less energy, helps keep the kitchen cool (less cooking time and also the heat doesn’t escape), requires less water to cook food (not much water escapes either) and I can walk away from it while it does it’s magic.

This secondhand pressure cooker cost $15 at the thrift shop. I’m using it with my induction cooker here, which saves even more energy!

Do you use a pressure cooker (or Instant Pot)?

Feed stale bread to tummies not trash cans! Stale

Feed stale bread to tummies not trash cans!

Stale bread makes delicious, package-free breadcrumbs. You can blitz pieces of dried bread in a high-speed blender or grate them by hand. After grating up a hunk of dried bread, I transformed the crumbs into crunchy garlicky bits in a few minutes.

For every 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs, use a tablespoon of olive oil, 1 large clove of garlic and if using, a pinch of salt (or to taste). Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the smashed garlic and stir often until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Remove from the pan and reserve for another dish (or just eat it immediately...so good!). Add the breadcrumbs to the oil and stir constantly until they turn a rich golden color, about 4 minutes. Sprinkle on salt if using. Remove the breadcrumbs from the pan to stop them from cooking and use immediately or allow them to cool and store them in a jar in the refrigerator for several days.

I sprinkled some of these on a kale salad tossed with wheat berries, chopped preserved lemons, fresh lemon juice and olive oil. Delicious! Because preserved lemons are so salty, I didn’t salt the breadcrumbs. These also taste great sprinkled on pasta dishes, vegetable side dishes or soups.

What is your favorite way to cook up every scrap of stale bread?

Sheet mulching the yard continues. "Weeds" covere

Sheet mulching the yard continues.

"Weeds" covered with cardboard covered with mulch helps suppress them. Depending on what you're growing, you might also add a layer or compost but the California native plants I've planted don't need it. They thrive in poor soil (we have clay).

Along with lots of rain, the atmospheric rivers this year resulted in lots of so-called weeds. Weed is in the eye of the beholder, however. The bees and ladybugs are pretty happy with all the weeds but the neighbors, not so much.

Last year, someone in the neighborhood complained about our weeds to the city, which issued us a warning to remove the weeds or have them removed. I envisioned lawnmowers destroying the tiny native plants out there so we pulled all the weeds. This year, I'm not pulling/sheet mulching the entire yard at once—I don't want to suppress all the weeds quite yet—but I'm doing enough to show progress 🤫 The native plants are filling in more now and providing habitat for the insects. These plants will eventually take over the yard and most of the weeds.

The cats (ours, the neighbor's) like to supervise in the yard or from the sidelines, sitting on sacks of mulch. Half-filled bags also make good seats for working in the yard.

We fill our free burlap sacks with free mulch from the city. Gardening doesn't have to be expensive—or involve piles of plastic.

If you garden, how do you reduce plastic and save money?

Happy Mother's Day from my mothers, Etheldreda the

Happy Mother's Day from my mothers, Etheldreda the kombucha SCOBY and Eleanor the sourdough starter!

Etheldreda has traveled extensively despite having had hundreds of children. She was born in Florida and moved to California in 2014. Since then, she has taken up residence in 77 cities around the world (with multiple homes in several cities). She lives in the US and Canada, Argentina, France, Germany, Japan and India, where she helped found the kombucha company @mountainbeekombucha in Bangalore.

Sourdough starter Eleanor is more like her mama (me) and would rather stay closer to home and bake all day. Her favorite sourdough recipes, in addition to the bread, are sourdough biscuits, crackers, pizza and cookies. (You can find all those recipes and more resources in the sourdough tab on my website.) Eleanor was photographed and featured extensively in my cookbook.

Although they each approach motherhood differently, Etheldreda and Eleanor have found what works for them and they wholeheartedly support each other in their choices.

Happy Mother's Day!
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#mothersday2023 #kombuchabrewing #kombuchascoby #fermenteddrinks #fermentedfoods #fermentation #fermenting #fermented #wildfermentation #sourdoughbaking #sourdoughbaker #sourdoughlove #sourdoughstarter #sourdoughdiscard #plasticfreeliving #breakfreefromplastic #sustainablelifestyle #wastefreeliving #lowwasteliving #slowfoodmovement #artofslowliving #zerowastejourney #zerowasteliving #zerowastechef #thereisnoplanetb #climatecrisis #respectyourmother #loveyourmother

Thank you @beltiblibrary for inviting me to speak

Thank you @beltiblibrary for inviting me to speak today and for the gorgeous bouquet of vegetables from @soul_farmer!

This bouquet is a great alternative to fast flowers this Mother’s Day. Many flowers in the US are shipped from long distances in refrigerated holds and are grown with tons of pesticides that affect not only the farmers but those living downstream.

Mom will love local slow flowers—or a local vegetable bouquet. And both are better for Mama Earth!

Are you shy about bringing your own container to a

🚨 Good news alert! 🚨 Oregon Governor Tina K

🚨 Good news alert! 🚨

Oregon Governor Tina Kotek signed two bills into law this Monday that will reduce single-use plastic packaging in the state.

SB543 prohibits restaurants from serving food and drinks in polystyrene, commonly known as Styrofoam. This blown plastic can leach harmful chemicals like styrene, a likely human carcinogen, into food. Heat speeds up the process. The law also bans toxic PFAS—aka forever chemicals—in food containers.

Oregon businesses that manufacture, sell and distribute these materials and vendors who use them will face fines (i.e., this is not a voluntary law and actually has some teeth).

The second law, SB545, requires the Oregon Health Authority to update codes in order to allow customers to bring their own food containers to businesses to fill.

Together, these laws will a) ban toxic, polluting stuff and b) promote reusable containers. As businesses adjust to the polystyrene ban and search for new materials (which may cost more...polystyrene is cheap), allowing customers to bring their own containers will reduce costs. Some of the businesses that allow BYO containers where I live offer a discount to customers who bring their own because they want to do the right thing and they save money.

These laws will help normalize reusables. Change has been slow but it is happening.
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#PFAS #polystyrene #bansingleuseplastic #reusables #reducereuse #plasticwaste #oceanplastic #plasticfreeliving #plasticisfossilfuel #keepitintheground #planetorplastic #plasticpollutes #plasticpollution #breakfreefromplastic #beatplasticpollution #plasticfreeoceans #sustainablelifestyle #wastefreeliving #lesswaste #lowwaste #lowwasteliving #zerowastejourney #zerowasteliving #zerowastetips #zerowastechef #thereisnoplanetb #climatecrisis #climateemergency

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